Solar Cells

In the future, solar panels will no longer be restricted to the roof. You'll be able to put them on your windows too. Scientists at UCLA have invented a thin, transparent solar cell that can turn the energy of the sun into electricity, while still allowing visible light to stream through it. "If you take a piece of glass and compare it to our solar cell, it is difficult to tell the difference," said study leader Yang Yang, a professor at...

The pilots of the first solar-powered plane to fly across America hope to transform the momentum of their historic flight into a grand-scale push for clean technology. Solar Impulse pilot and project president Bertrand Piccard said his team was “elated” by the smooth landing at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday night from an aviation and a renewable-energy standpoint. “It really shows our clean-technology solar energy and our new systems have been reliable,” he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Nanosolar Inc. said it planned to build what it called the world's largest factory to produce solar cells, to be located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The plant would manufacture about 200 million solar cells a year with a total energy capacity of 430 megawatts, or enough to power more than 300,000 homes, Palo Alto-based Nanosolar said.

The solar-powered aircraft making a landmark cross-country flight successfully completed its first leg early Saturday, and will rest about a week in Arizona before taking to the skies again. Solar Impulse HB-SIA touched down about 12:30 a.m. at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Video footage shows the pilot, Bertrand Piccard, stepping out with a smile and a wave, holding up a flag bearing the name of the aircraft. "It's a little bit like being in a dream," Piccard told the Associated Press.

Siemens Solar Industries, based in Camarillo, has begun shipping solar cells to Argentina from a newly opened office in Boca Raton, Fla. Siemens is shipping the cells as part of a $2.4-million project to power rural schools in Argentina. The Florida unit will support a growing demand for solar products throughout Latin America. According to Siemens, the area is ranked by analysts as the solar industry's fastest growing market.

Swiss researchers say they have developed an inexpensive but powerful solar cell, raising the prospect of the first large-scale electricity generation by the sun. The researchers reported last week in the British journal Nature that the cell was the most powerful yet developed. Large-scale use of solar cells for electricity is prohibitively expensive at present, costing 10 times more than coal, oil or gas.

Camarillo-based Siemens Solar Industries, a major solar energy concern, has opened a new facility for mass production of crystal solar cells. Siemens Solar said the "clean room," part of a $3-million plant improvement, is a first in the industry and will produce 30,000 to 40,000 silicon wafers a day. Clean rooms are designed to provide a factory environment free of airborne contaminants.

A simmering trade dispute is highlighting a debate about the kinds of jobs America can sustain in a greening economy. The Obama administration's recent decision to slap import tariffs on Chinese solar cells was hailed by some domestic solar manufacturers as a victory for job creation, leveling the field while also sending a powerful message to Beijing about monopolistic behavior in crucial industries. But a close look at the U.S. solar industry suggests that the tariffs may actually be a job killer because the vast majority of positions in the sector aren't on the assembly line.

It has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but weighs less than a small car. And it is powered entirely by the sun. Adventurer Bertrand Piccard on Friday unveiled the Solar Impulse, which with its sleek white wings and pink trimming, aims to make history as the prototype for a solar-powered flight around the world. "Yesterday it was a dream, today it is an airplane, tomorrow it will be an ambassador of renewable energies," said Piccard, who in 1999 copiloted the first round-the-globe nonstop balloon flight.

April 11, 1988 | IVARS PETERSON, Peterson is a writer for Science News

With its streamlined profile and gleaming skin, the Sunraycer looks more like a giant, high-tech cockroach than a road vehicle. But in 1987, this experimental car raced 1,950 miles across the middle of Australia to win what was billed as the world's first international transcontinental road race for solar-powered vehicles. Fueled only by sunlight, the Sunraycer averaged 43 m.p.h. over 5 1/2 days (including overnight stopovers) and finished more than two days ahead of its nearest rival.

In the future, solar panels will no longer be restricted to the roof. You'll be able to put them on your windows too. Scientists at UCLA have invented a thin, transparent solar cell that can turn the energy of the sun into electricity, while still allowing visible light to stream through it. "If you take a piece of glass and compare it to our solar cell, it is difficult to tell the difference," said study leader Yang Yang, a professor at...

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration ordered tariffs of 31% and higher on solar panels imported from China, escalating a simmering trade dispute with China over a case that has sharply divided American interests in the growing clean-energy industry. The Commerce Department announced the stiff duties Thursday after making a preliminary finding that Chinese solar panel manufacturers "dumped" their goods - that is, sold them at below fair-market value. The widely anticipated ruling, if affirmed by U.S. trade officials this fall, is expected to have significant implications for both the global production of solar cells, now largely in China, and the growth of the solar energy industry in the U.S., which employs about 100,000 people in manufacturing, installation and services.

In the spring of 2004 Raphael Domjan, a Swiss electrical engineer, conceived of a borderline insane idea -- to travel around the world aboard a ship powered entirely by solar energy. It would be an adventure and a statement. If he could do it, he would prove to the world that there are other alternatives to powering sea travel besides fossil fuels and wind. It would also demonstrate just what solar power is capable of. In 2008 he formed a partnership with German entrepreneur Immo Stroeher, who helped provide the funds to make this idea possible.

A simmering trade dispute is highlighting a debate about the kinds of jobs America can sustain in a greening economy. The Obama administration's recent decision to slap import tariffs on Chinese solar cells was hailed by some domestic solar manufacturers as a victory for job creation, leveling the field while also sending a powerful message to Beijing about monopolistic behavior in crucial industries. But a close look at the U.S. solar industry suggests that the tariffs may actually be a job killer because the vast majority of positions in the sector aren't on the assembly line.

It has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but weighs less than a small car. And it is powered entirely by the sun. Adventurer Bertrand Piccard on Friday unveiled the Solar Impulse, which with its sleek white wings and pink trimming, aims to make history as the prototype for a solar-powered flight around the world. "Yesterday it was a dream, today it is an airplane, tomorrow it will be an ambassador of renewable energies," said Piccard, who in 1999 copiloted the first round-the-globe nonstop balloon flight.

Everybody loves solar, the shiny superstar of renewable energy. But scratch the surface of the manufacturing process and the green sheen disappears. Vast amounts of fossil fuels are used to produce and transport panels. Solar cells contain toxic materials. Some components can't be easily recycled. That has some environmentalists worried about a new tidal wave of hazardous waste headed for the nation's landfills when panels eventually wear out. A report to be released today by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition warns that the industry and lawmakers need to set policies now to ensure that a clean technology doesn't leave a dirty legacy.

High above Earth, more and more satellites are being powered by gallium arsenide solar cells--cells that are lighter, longer-lasting and more efficient than any made from silicon, the industry standard. Ninety-nine percent of the market for gallium arsenide solar cells belongs to Applied Solar Energy Corp., a solar and optical technologies firm based in the City of Industry, which has placed its business future behind the compound semiconductor material.

A surprising proposal by Enron Corp. to produce photovoltaic electric power for a quarter of the cost of existing technologies has refocused attention on the steadily improving solar cell. After more than 15 years of development, photovoltaic cells are commonplace on hand-held calculators, satellites and in remote locations. But photovoltaic energy will have to be as cheap or cheaper than the 5.

Nanosolar Inc. said it planned to build what it called the world's largest factory to produce solar cells, to be located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The plant would manufacture about 200 million solar cells a year with a total energy capacity of 430 megawatts, or enough to power more than 300,000 homes, Palo Alto-based Nanosolar said.

Regarding "Governor's Solar Plan Is Generating Opposition," June 27: In addition to the obvious environmental upsides, the 1-million-solar-rooftop idea benefits California's consumers. Passage of the bill means fewer new power plants for which ratepayers will have to foot the bill. It means less dependence on natural gas, a fuel prone to price spikes. It means that energy companies have one fewer place to manipulate the market. Alas, the utilities and home builders fail to examine and consider these benefits, but the public gets it, and hopefully our elected officials will too. Steve Blackledge Legislative Director California Public Interest Research Group Sacramento With subsidies, a homeowner who installs solar cells breaks even.